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Best manu for enamel pins?

Would it be weird to ask an artist to sign a print at a con? I think it's fun to have a signature, but I'm not sure if it would make the artist uncomfortable to suddenly ask that.

>>10812982
No, most artists will be happy to do it as long as you aren't a turbo autist who uses that as an excuse to chat for 10 minutes and hold the line.

>Finally get an anime con in my area
>All the fucks from California take up all the AA tables
Fuck off you greedy pieces of shits

>>10813222
frfr every con west of the Mississippi is just the same fucking 50 people and their fotm/genshin shit over and over.

>>10811407
I feel like I should make a how to use Alibaba guide. Do we have something like that or should I actually make one?

>>10813433
I don't think I've seen anything like that and I'd certainly find it helpful

>>10813222
NGL I feel the same way. But the truth is if it's juried their art > yours to the judge. Also if you are from out of state, and lose money on the show... think about it and don't come back till it's bigger.

>>10813433
Yes please anon

> All these out of state people saying how slow ANYC after they fucked with tickets and are disappointed by the lackluster sales.
Heh

>>10816586
>>10817889
Sorry, I lost track of this thread. I’ll put one together this week.

>>10819408
And every single one of them will sign up for a booth again next year

>>10819408
I'm just across the river and I'm not doing the show next year. Lost money man. Let's say in 2018 I made 5$, Then 2021 I made 4$, and finally in comparison in 2022 I made 1$. The difference is that big in percentage. Like this year was bad, I coulda just sat home drawing the booba and actually made money.

>>10819918
maybe your stuff is bad

>>10819958
There's only one artist that was questionable in the artist alley this year if you did a walkthrough. The every con has a basically tracing on canvas person. Everyone else was pretty well curated.

>>10819918
Were there less people? More competition? I remember AA being extremely crowded last year

>>10820915
I'm going to take a guess at what happened. There were 100 less tables this year than last despite artists last year doing very well for the most part. Some speculate it was to expand dealers hall/add that stupid ass car show in between dealers and alley. The biggest offender was the ticket limitations/pricing that drained everyone's money before the con even started so less attendees plus the attendees that did get to go were already broke before the show or only bought a 1 day. Last year was also something of a perfect storm for that con. NYCC was capped, first anime con in NYC since pandemic, no capped attendance equaled super good sales. This year NYCC wasn't capped and had a larger amount of anime and ANYC was capped.

What's up with people in AA with "fortress of solitude" setups where you can't even interact with the seller, and their setup is totally blocking them from view?

It's like, do you not actually want to make sales or talk with your customers?

Note: Definitely not a covid thing since they don't have masks on or sneeze screens.

What's the going rate for 8.5x11 prints these days?

>>10821158
Them cutting 100 tables is stupid, people love AA

>>10821850
They may just have too many things to display on what's usually a 6ft table with height limitations, anon. Or they have social anxiety and prefer to only interact when necessary. They're artists, not entertainers.

>>10821961
Honestly thought the artist alley was huge and wouldn't less tables mean potentially more sales/profit per table?

ok first time applying to fanime soon. in the 4 links to images. does it have to be single subject images or can it be a small collage?

I've updated the Convention list with 2023 dates and open signups. Haven't double-checked pricing though.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/13o7hD5xS3sDqVptnTVGUlRae3ovEE-vPPST_QOrQwtM/

>What was your best con of 2022?
>How have things been saleswise (offline and online) in this post-covid world? Include your country/region if you’re comfortable.
>What are you looking forward to in 2023?
>Trend predictions

>>10825969
Thanks anon!

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So I got into my little local con's AA and I'm on the fence of committing. I make candles, but jarless ones. <- Since I make them all by hand, they take forever and due to time/money, I can't really sell them for too cheap. My goal, if I go, would be to break even. I'm looking at $700 bucks for 3 nights at the hotel and a small fee for the actual table.

Do y'all think I can make my money back selling these types of fandom candles at like $35 bucks a pop? If that sounds too high, I'm kinda hoping that the thrill of FOMO will make people at the con want to buy stuff. I also have a theory that the AA at smaller cons are usually small time artists (not that amazing yet in the skill department) and mostly re-sellers of DVDs/shirts. Feels like I would have a little bit of an edge. It would have to be women cause my product is not aimed at men, no matter how dorky they are.

Also this con would be my first in the AA so I think the small size of it would be good practice.

TLDR; Anime Candles! Thoughts?

>>10821919

They always range. On Etsy - $15-30ish. At cons- I always see them for $20 and if you're art sucks then $15. I think that's fair though cause you have a low chance of selling at a lower price if it's not that great.

>>10826523
candle makers need to kill themselves. you retards put tons of flammable materials and dyes in your ~~handmade~~ candles that are just shitty molds.

>>10826555

Not the other anon, but what do you think the rest of AAs are filled with? Replica Master Swords and beer cups with a laser etched Vegeta that were all made from scratch? Glass blown by hand or forged in steel with a hammer and anvil? Kek.

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>>10826523
That’s honestly a very cute candle but desu even at a con I wouldn’t pay $35 for something that will either be a dust magnet or look messed up as soon as I burn it because of all the different colors and the way the wick is coming right out of multiple objects in the composition. Maybe $20-25. I would be more inclined to buy a cheaper & simpler kawaii candle, or a simpler fandom candle that I could burn for a bit without immediately wrecking.

>>10826560
If you were able to scrape up the remains of your braincells together, you'd understand a candle being made of flammable dyes and decorations means it's a hazard if you light it at home. Last time I checked, cosplay props don't typically need to be set on fire the way a candle wick does. Retard.

What’s even selling at AA anymore? I feel like there’s just too many fandoms to really sell one thing (or have a main subject focus). For example, I spent all last year doing Family Spy stuff and when I was ready for the con, it wasn’t hip anymore and everyone moved onto Chainsaw Man even though Family Spy was still airing new episodes. I’m always chasing a fandom and never catching up. And if I do my own favourite stuff it doesn’t sell or again, lost its interest to people. Ugh.

I feel like now, more than ever, people would rather buy official merch than AA stuff. At least a few years ago I thought it was pretty even. I even knew some people only bought fan made stuff cause they didn’t want to support big business.

>>10827931
FotM gonna FotM but if you're struggling this hard you're either too slow or, frankly, your art is just average. If your stuff is good enough, there will always be some people who still buy stuff from three months ago.

It's better to diversify and make stuff from different fandoms rather than gamble it all on how long a specific fad will last, but if you want something that lasts forever just do Pokemon or Ghibli.

>>10827931
How's your art anon? I'm still struggling to keep Animal Crossing stuff in stock almost 3 years after the initial hype. FOTM is tricky because if everyone is selling a series, you now have to be the best in quality of art, uniqueness of what you're making (shaker charms are still novel but acrylic keychains less so for example), or just plain being the cheapest table at the con. If you're anywhere in the middle for all three categories, don't even bother.

>>10825969
Thank you anon you're a life saver

hey cgl, anybody know a good place to get 18+ doujins printed? Alibaba is no help

Dumb question- but let’s say you make Pokémon earrings or whatever. And they are a huge hit in both your Etsy shop and AA. You make thousands of dollars making them. Can you get sued later or just be sent a letter to stop? Would you have to give half your earrings to the company? I just see these shops that sell anything and everything that’s trade marked and there’s no way they have a license for it but they sell in the 12,000 sales level or higher! How does all of this work?

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I was at Anime Impulse today and for reasons I won't get into I put together a spreadsheet charting the popularity of various series/media franchises based on how many distinct tables carried merchandise related to them. It's not super scientific since I wasn't able to cover every table in the Artist Alley and I probably missed some merchandise here and there, but I suppose it gives a relatively decent overview of what was popular today. Maybe some of you will find it useful.

When is the AANI discord going to go through the applicants? Are the mods just too busy playing FFXIV or something

>>10829787
Whoa. Doing God’s work right there. Thanks so much!

>>10829787
Cheers, I can definitely make use of this info.

>>10828760
https://boards.4channel.org/ h /
Try asking here

Is every con just going to lottery selection now? Some of the most random bullshit getting in and barely any in-state community are getting tables

>>10829501
Personally on etsy, they just take the listing down. I don't think they're going to go after you for money unless you're making a serious profit. Tagging 'pokemon' will probably for sure get it flagged though. I had a design sell 100+ times get taken down, but that's all that happened, it was just taken down.

>>10829787
How much does shit like Sailor Moon actually sell? Whenever I make stuff of big IPs for cons it ends up just being a waste of time. People only seem to care about the niche fandoms I draw. Which is fine, it still makes money and I make a lotta profit, but like, is this common with other artists?

Anyone mind sharing their average sales amounts? And did your sales increase or decrease after the covid break?

I have been doing cons for a while but really starting to think I'm falling behind now and just want actual honest numbers to compare with to see if I need to change shit up.

>>10832851
Like >>10827963 and >>10828045 mentioned, doing big or popular series means your art and designs have to be better or more unique than everyone else. Niche fandoms have less content and thus less competition.

Marketing and image also have a say though. If you've found your niche, you will have an established audience wanting exactly that kind of stuff and might not be looking to buy mainstream fandoms from you anyway.

So who on the AnimeNext board fired the Artist Alley regular guy to push the 50/50 display rule?

Why do sellers on Reddit sperg out so hard about selling fanart? Makes it so hard to get advice. They believe selling fanart is the highest sin possible and will drag you over the coals for doing it, totally ignoring that some of the most popular art in the world is technically fanart.

>>10832894
Not exclusively in the AA, but I'll tell you. I cleared 120k in sales during the pandemic. Stimmy money clearly went into my pocket. But in 2022, despite doubling down on my most effective products and sales strategies I barely cleared 60k. A convention I had done over 10k before barely cleared 2k in 2022.

Sales are even further down since late 2022. Most of the people I know are *really really really* struggling right now. I saw this coming and took a traditional job, which I actually love so much that I might never go back to the circuit full time, but desu I don't think it's a matter of "changing it up". The economy is a bit rough right now, and when people don't have a lot of extra money, the AA always takes the biggest hit imo. It's just an occupational hazard you have to come to terms with. Our industry is EXTREMELY vulnerable to economic conditions.

While there's always ways you can improve, sometimes the buyers just don't have the expendable income, and there's nothing you can do to change that. I did see an uptick in sales of my lower priced items, so perhaps leaning more into affordable stuff (<$15) will get you better results.

>>10834154
Simple. Fan artists are by definition, vultures. Every item you produce is derivative and depends on someone else creating something people actually want to buy in order for you to make a living.

It's not always a fair criticism, because if more people would support original art then artists would create it, but at the same time, it's no one's job but yours to make a product people want to buy. There ARE original-only artists who make a great living in the anime/comic convention circuit. But it's a heck of a lot harder than just pumping out derivative content from whatever is hot rn and calling it a day. And I think the fact that it is genuinely much harder to make a living as an original artist puts a real chip on their shoulders, even if they're not making any money doing it. It's like a badge of honor to not draw fan art in a lot of circles.

I don't think it's the worst thing in the world and I actually used to sell fanart, but realistically, as a fan artist you can't possibly expect people not to frown on the fact that every dollar you make is a product of someone else's intellectual property. In fact, people try to act like copyright law is super complicated but it's not. If you do not own the character, you have no legal right to profit from work featuring that character without permission from copyright holder. That's straight from DeviantArt's own lawyer, who speaks regularly on the topic at conventions and events.

No judgement here, we all gotta make a living somehow, but I thought it was pretty obvious why people are so obnoxious about it. They're trying to get some kind of moral high ground and in fairness, they're not 100% wrong there.

>>10834226
>They're trying to get some kind of moral high ground and in fairness, they're not 100% wrong there.
It’s fully expected that you will get a lot of flak going on Reddit asking about how to profit of fanart, but artists are also too high up their own ass regarding this “higher moral ground”.
Most art related jobs in the world involves drawing or making something at the behest of your employer or a client, be it making advertisements, illustrations of someone else’s texts or stories, making concept art of descriptions given by an art director or producer to maximize appeal for the masses, commissions and so on. Very few art and design jobs involves freely following your own ideas. When you’re selling your own stuff it very often involves finding a style, niché and image you then need to stick to.

People can complain about this as much as you want but in the end your art needs to appeal to others for it to sell. Yes it’s harder to make a living out of original art so you need to work harder for it. Many people who complains about how their original art doesn’t sell also seem oblivious to either how self-indulgent their art is or that their skill is simply not good enough. You still need to learn how to make your art appeal to others.

>>10834241
Not OP, but there's a BIG difference between working on contract/corporate job and mass producing work that isn't actually yours and selling that for a profit. I always laugh when fan artists get butthurt about people "stealing" their work when it was never really theirs to begin with. So they're able to understand that it's theft when someone takes their intellectual property, but can't imagine having the same respect for the original creators and copyright holders.

Fan art really shouldn't be allowed at cons imho. It makes it even harder for original artists to sell and creates this endless feedback loop of restricting creativity in the artist alley.

>>10834241
>Many people who complains about how their original art doesn’t sell also seem oblivious to either how self-indulgent their art is or that their skill is simply not good enough

DESU this is true of a lot of fan artists too. There's a lot of entitlement in the artist alley sales wise. Some of the comments I've gotten from other artists are just honestly too obnoxious for words. And there are some really lovely people too, don't get me wrong.

>>10834250
>when fan artists get butthurt about people "stealing" their work

My personal favorite is when they think they own a pose/pairing/concept from a wildly popular and well developed fandom. I've seen some incredibly heated drama about vaguely similar concepts between competing artists. And it's like hmmm. When you're both drawing on the same established cannon and fandom, there might be a lot of similarities in the derivative art you produce. Imagine that. Or don't apparently.

>>10834250
>Fan art really shouldn't be allowed at cons imho
Fan art is free advertisement for shows and franchises that keeps people thinking about it and engaging with it. If you went to a Japanese AA and told them no fan art you'd be laughed out of the building as they understand this. What is even appropriate to see at an ANIME CONVENTION artist alley that is original? Your own original gay sex anime characters? People want to buy ANIME at an ANIME convention, fan artists supply a lot of merch of things that would otherwise have no representation there. There's a reason many companies turn a blind eye to fanart, because its a mutually beneficial relationship

>>10834250
You're missing the point. The creative process is the exact same: you are drawing something made by you, based on something you did not make. The only difference is in one you've been given permission to and one you haven't, but the artistic process is the exact same. There's also very little original art in this world. You pick ANY original art piece you've ever done and you can directly link it to something you've seen in your life. If I draw my own OC anime character it's simply a remix of a few people's art, anime style in itself is a derivative of someone's work. I've yet to see someone with enough originality in their work to justify them being able to look down their nose at fanartists when they're only one or two steps out from that themselves, at least fanartists are honest about it.

>>10834214
Can confirm. Of my 5 friends who do this full time, 3 gone back to day jobs in the last 6 months. And the who still do this full time both have a partner that pays for most of their expenses. All of them were doing fine before.

It's a double whammy. Inflation hasn't been higher in years, and at least, for me and my friends, sales have never been lower.

>>10834257
I'm >>10834226, and my traditional job is in the creative corporate industry and it is a totally different process from fan art. I'm given assets to work with, but the entire creative process for each campaign is original.

Not trying to be an a-hole here, but you really need a step stool for all that reaching you're doing to try and equate inspired art with fan art. It's totally different. Inspired art is materially different. Fan art is instantly recognized as the character you are drawing on, and that recognition that another artist and creator has spent years developing is something you are stealing to make your money. It doesn't make you scum of the earth, but let's not get it twisted.

>>10834254
>If you went to a Japanese AA and told them no fan art

Who's gonna tell him? LMAO talk about talking out your ass.

>>10834261
But you just said yourself your job is based off assets you did not make. Is someone artistically lazy if they just draw animals? Since thats instantly recognisable as that animal? I'm not saying fanartists are Gods but the way people speak down about it is ridiculous. If the fanart is a very creative look at that character then whats the issue? Why is it worth less than someone drawing an animal straight from a photograph? Because one cuts into the profits of a mega corporation and one doesn't?

>>10834263
Comiket, biggest artist alley in the world, mostly fanart sellers.

>>10834266
You do realize that Comiket is literally the ONLY approved event for fan art sales right? And you do realize Japan is actually discussing ammending their already strict copyright laws to require revenue generating cosplayers to pay out the original creators? Worst possible example.

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>>10834261
This is Pokemon fanart. So this is somehow worth less creatively than if they'd drawn from photo references of real life bugs? Explain how

>>10834268
But it's not. There is a shit ton of smaller monthly events, usually centered around a specific fandom, where fanartists sell their goods. The Japanese gov can say whatever shit they want about the law, who even cares. The people attending the events have no problem and that's who matters.

>>10834266
NTA but 99.9% of Japanese events ban fan art. Japanese copyright law is super strict, and that's probably why they're able to produce the kind of content they do. If they can make it big, people know their work will be protected.

Remember that time when Japan sent an international special forces team to arrest a notorious copyright violator in the Philippines? They don't play, and I'd argue that it's actually really paid off. Same thing in Germany btw.

>>10834269
>>10834269
NTA but no one said anything about photo references? Literally the only reason why that piece of art exists is because someone else created Johto and the world of pokemon. Fan art gets shit on in artist communities because it's low hanging fruit and everyone knows it. Well that and because of >>10834251

>>10834274
The copyright infringement you're referring to was someone illegally distributing the actual anime, aka actually harming the product directly. There no derivative work involved. Fanart is not the same at all as distributing a torrent of the anime and it says a lot that you're twisting this to suit the anti-fanart narrative.

https://www.tofugu.com/japan/doujinshi-definition/
Booth.pm is 99% doujin items, there is thousands of doujin item events around Japan every year. So much cope coming from you. What it comes down to is people get resentful that some artists take this easier path to get their work noticed, they think there is some huge honour in starving for years drawing some random self indulgent shit no one else cares about over doing fanart to get your work noticed than moving it over to original. Stay broke!

>>10834275
This image would be arguably less creative if it was just copied from photos of insects from real life. It required MORE creativity to re-imagine the real insects combined with the Pokemon designs. Tell me why this is not as creative as producing an identical image but the source material was photos of bugs? You can't. It's interesting the one that's bad is the one that hurts the pockets of giant corporations isn't it?

>>10834276
>Booth.pm
That's the whole problem though. Booth.pm's tagline is literally "the international indie art marketplace". Fan art doesn't belong there and it shouldn't belong in any place purporting to be independent art. There's nothing "independent" about your entire living being dependent on these mega franchises. There are tons and I mean tons of vaguely kawaii style artists doing real independent work and making a lot of money off it. A lot of them go into plushes, apparel, and other items that need more buy in, but this whole idea that you can't make money without fan art is lazy and just an excuse for the fact that people really struggle to produce decent content when they can't rely on existing fandoms to drive their sales.

>>10834278
Yes, but you know what would be even more creative? If they actually created their own content based on this concept.

>>10834280
Almost every single one of them started with fanart so...

>>10834282
What? Bugs displayed like that? That's original is it? To copy what you see at any museum? The truth of the matter is originality does not exist in art. Period.

>>10834283
Not really? I'm thinking of three of the top of my head, and while they may have drawn fan art privately, none of them sold fanart. There's also several indie comics that pull in over 10k a month on patreon. One I know personally has been building his skills and making independent comics since middle school.

>>10834286
No you dingbat. Content creation. What would be even more creative would be creating your own comic/game/CYOA/visual novel etc. But all of those things require more effort to build something than just slapping "Johta" on there, and suddenly your museum bug pin up becomes marketable because it has someone else's IP in it.

>>10834289
Give me an example

>>10834290
So you're saying even art that draws from nature isn't creative enough for you?

>>10834280
This is the same problem I have with Etsy. It seems like very few people on there are actually independent artists these days, and they destroy marketplaces that were created for actual indie work.

>>10834293
The snobbery is hilarious. Your art isn't any more original or legitimate. Fanart is "actual indie work." Most art in history is fanart on some level. If all these platforms are being filled with this content and its selling did it occur to you that maybe this is what people like, and you're the one who is wrong?

>>10834280
>fan art is lazy and just an excuse for the fact that people really struggle to produce decent content when they can't rely on existing fandoms to drive their sales.
Artists want to draw what makes them happy and inspires them. Artists are inspired by other art. Artists also want to get paid for their time drawing. If the fan art demonstrates technical skill and creativity its no lazier than a portrait of a person or animal from real life

>>10834291
NTA but the cost of entry for plushes, jewelry, clothes, and accessories has never been lower so there's actually quite a lot of original artists in the artist alley that have not and do not do derivative works. Hell, I even saw an original shoe maker in the artist alley that was clearly doing very well. Not saying fanart is bad, but it isn't something that every successful artist has done.

>>10834294
NTA and I like/buy fanart but I wouldn't call it "independent".

>>10834296
So give me an example

>>10834294
>Your art isn't any more original
I mean my art won't get flagged for copyright violations but okkkkkkk you do you

>>10834299
Where is the lie LMAO.

>>10834294
Look I draw fanart but let's not play games. It's not original work, it's marketable work. And if someone has a problem with that you can tell them you're crying all the way to the bank, but you can't honestly tell me you've convinced yourself that fan art is just as original as original art? That's some serious delusion.

>>10834300
I'm not saying its original work. But it's not always less original that a portrait of animals, people, etc. Most classic art is portraits of some kind, many pieces being fanart of the bible or wars, which was very marketable for that time. But there's people in this thread who argue that's not real art and their art, some gay looking character they came up with drinking a cup of coffee, is the one thats real art.

Look at how people speak about fanart, they speak about it the same way they speak about AI generated work. It's ignorant and delusional, when these peoples work will only be one or two steps away from someone else's work anyway. So does making something of a franchise you love and selling it mean you should be banned from all selling platforms because its more marketable than someone drawing some random shit?

>>10834301
>So does making something of a franchise you love and selling it mean you should be banned from all selling platforms because its more marketable than someone drawing some random shit?

I mean yes? because it's copyright theft? That's why we have a copyright system- to distinguish public domain and common concepts from original ideas. When you boil it down, fan artists are getting an unfair advantage by illegally using someone else's IP. This theft being considered acceptable incentivizes artists to not create their own characters and designs, because they need to compete with everyone else selling one more generic GI pairing or keychain. I just think overall, it keeps the creativity level lower than it could be if people were more incentivized to pursue their own content.

>>10834250
Literally the only proper difference is legality.

Some people looking down on fanart are way too up on their high horse. There are people taking shortcuts and cutting corners on something more easily marketable, yes. I have little respect for people who are so lazy that they just come here and ask for want fandoms sell because they can't figure it out on their on or draw what they like and make it sell. But I have little respect for people drawing original art and complaining about how people don't support original art. Selling art has always been about making it appealing. Having to beg your audience because you supposedly are original is not a sustainable sales model. They will naturally have less reason to care about your OCs than characters from franchises they like, so accept that you have a harder job marketing and selling it.

Most acclaimed artists throughout history made a living painting commission portraits of nobles and royals, or saints and biblical figures and generic landscapes and shit. Existing characters, just with permission. They painted directly from life and models all the time. The creativity involved depends on the execution and their skill.
It's not like originality used to be lauded in art, traditionally it was about drawing specific subjects and topics and making it look good, or like what the client wanted it to look like.
Saying all fanartists are lazy hacks because they draw established figures just sounds like salt because good fanartists can earn a lot by doing it. You still need the usual artistic (or marketing) skill to earn big.
The only real argument is legalities.

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>>10834307
I want to study you in a lab to understand how a fucked up little sperg like you comes to exist. Copyright law is made up bullshit that exists to protect corporations, theres no difference between ""original"" art, fan art, life drawing etc etc and copyright infringement doesn't fucking matter. The skills involved in creating high quality fan art is the same as if those artist used them for drawing literally anything else. A beautifully rendered piece of fanart is just as much art as anything else and if you don't understand that I need you to at least understand there is literally no hope for you.

>>10834403
>theres no difference between ""original"" art, fan art, life drawing etc etc and copyright infringement doesn't fucking matter.

Are you mentally incapacitated in some way? Even AA admissions criteria distinguish between these things. Everyone knows that original artists have a disadvantage, and conventions started instituting these percentage changed rules and fanart limitations/bans because there were becoming issues from copyright holders. Homestuck is a perfect example of this. The creator was notoriously anal about fanart and sales. He was a dick, but that was definitely in his rights to do that, especially since he didn't charge for access to his content, and didn't want others to do that either.

A lot of ya'll clearly have a complex about that failed self published manga dream or something, and are now out here trying to pretend that it takes the same skills to produce something original. It doesn't. Creating your own characters, world, and story/plot and being successful selling it is objectively insanely hard by comparison to just pumping out the same costumes, hairstyles, and pre-established relationships of a massive fandom. If you can't see that you need your eyes checked. That's why some people look down on fan artists. It's genuinely not on the same level as fully original art in terms of difficulty. In original art, you have to come up with the costume, aesthetic, character attributes/personality that will come through. Well done original art will always be more difficult than fan art of the same execution level because the additional challenge of creating and marketing an original character doesn't generally apply to fanart.

>>10834400
Copyright law is fairly modern, if it had of existed even 100 years ago even the Mona Lisa would be considered fanart, illegal and immoral. It's depressing how many people drink the kool aid on this topic on a law that exists to do nothing but protect corporations.

I understand this same law protects all artists, I do. But it truly is punching up when someone is drawing and selling fanart of Nintendo, Disney, etc and how bootlickers clutch their pearls at this is beyond me.

They simply refuse to acknowledge that to draw a character is no different than to draw a portrait of a king, the literal only difference is one is owned by a company and one is not. But creatively its identical. It's illegal to use copyrighted music on your tiktok video, but how many of these super original artists are doing exactly that on their posts?

>>10834403
Any normal person sees that drawing and thinks "that's someone who wants to share their passion and love for this character, who is very talented and creative and expressing it." Bootlickers see this and think "what a disgusting vulture doing nothing but stealing the creativity and food out of another artist's mouth" It's fucking beyond me. Randell Weems of the art community

>>10834424
Yeah, creating your own world, characters etc is so hard, that's why the internet totally isn't flooded with trash Mary Sue self indulgent nonsense with no technical ability. If a video game or show sparks passion to create beautiful art that doesn't make that art worth any less than your self insert fanfic.

>>10834424
Homestuck is an interesting example, Hussey was a giant dick, but at the end of the day, it was his IP, and he did ask repeatedly for people to respect his right to deny unlicensed commercialization. I hated homestuck and the horse it rode in on, but artist to artist, I would respect his boundaries there. Tbh if any creator came forward and said they didn’t want unlicensed merch being made and sold, I’d comply with their request too.

>>10834437
Yeah but content creation is always an iceberg. For every top tier amazing anime/manga, there are literally thousands of garbage pieces. The same rule applies to fan art so that’s a moot point.

>>10834439
You know whats also an iceberg? Originality. There is almost no such thing as original art.

>>10834434
this is the stupidest shit i've ever read.

>>10834441
What a cope. Honestly if you can’t see the difference between original and fan art and you honestly think they are conceptually the same, you need like a conservatorship for your smooth brain energy.

>>10834513
he seems to think that getting inspiration to create OC is the same as inspiration for creating a derivative work. the reality is that most people only draw fan art to get clout or for self satisfaction. it's not like making OCs is hard.

>>10834515
I make fan art because it sells. I don’t even particularly like most of the things I draw for, and that’s true for most people I know doing this full time. I’d love to do just original work, but it rarely sells at conventions that allow fan art, which is still the majority. I frown on fan art too desu, not because I don’t get why people sell it, but because I do really wish there was more support for indie art. I honestly don’t know if conventions making changes would help or just make the AA overall unprofitable. But yeah, most full time folks know their income source is questionable, but hey, it pays the bills and I I haven’t been sued yet so….

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>>10834515
So you think this person did this for no other reason than to get clout and its worthless right? What immoral hack trash this must be in your eyes.

If I do a painting of an animal I took a photo of, it is not creative or derivative work. So in your eyes its just to get clout and worthless is it? If I do a drawing of an animal from a video game I love I'm a complete soulless bitch am I? Complete retard

great thread

>>10834525
And you're okay with people thinking you deserve to starve to death because you're making execs at Nintendo upset?

>>10834525
I’ve done several local almost mainstream events that did not allow fan art and had decent sales. ~400-600 in a one day, 5 hour event with basically no overhead costs. Fan art being permitted makes the expectations of your customers. There are lots of people who go to conventions and don’t shop the artist alley at all, and those that do are often doing so explicitly to support indie artists, so personally I do think that conventions disallowing fan art would actually increase opportunities for people to make and market their own original ideas.

>>10834525
exactly. if you're doing it for money, that's what sells.

>>10834534
No one said anything like that. Sperge much? I honestly don’t care what people think. I’m just saying from the perspective of someone doing this full time, I actually don’t love drawing fan art, and most of the people in my circle don’t either. We draw it to make money because that’s what is expected in the artist alley. If I were unable to make a living doing this, I’d just get a normal job like everybody else. It’s really not that complicated.

>>10834540
if you don't mind me asking what type of events were they and what type of artwork?

>>10834534
I’ll tell you this much. I would much rather have people starve to death or get a normie job than keep fucking complaining non stop about how shitty their life is because they’ve chosen the AA path and can’t accept that it’s not a full time income for them.

>>10834544
NTA but I did a local holiday market type thing that made bank. I live in quirky city though so your mileage may vary. Sold a fuck ton of keychains and anime ornaments

>>10834547
was it a general artistry event or specifically for anime targeted stuff?

>>10834548
Generally artsy, no licensed materials allowed. It was in an area of town that has all the weebshit though.

>>10834545
We could do a whole thread on those people. Does anybody not have at least one person in their circle who has to have more problems than anyone else and is constantly complaining about how rough they have it and how bad business is? I had one girl even say I didn’t deserve to have good sales because I’m more “privileged” and she needed the money more than me. For some reason the AA seems to attract a lot of people like that. I guess it’s probably because AA income is easy to bury when you apply for SS/benefits. Nothing against that but by god if you can do the AA circuit full time you have the ability to work a normal job. I’d argue that full time AA travel is substantially more challenging and physically demanding than most normie jobs.

>>10834532
stop wasting your time, they're either a bot or so subhuman that its impossible to seperate them from a bot

>>10834525
This is the crux of the problem, ignoring morons that think drawing fanart is a crime, the main reason fanart is annoying is because it sells so well.

People treat artists as discount merch factories, demanding them to be constantly churning out cheaper merch for their favourite shows. Its a vicious cycle in which the people buying fanart do not give a single shit about where or who they are buying from, rather that is has their favourite waifu of the month on it, so artists are forced to draw what is most popular if they want to have any hope in hell of selling anything.

Artist alleys then become flooded with fanart of amazing to dubious quality, pushing out the original art pieces and OC only artists and so on and so forth.

>>10834571
This is the best comment in this whole thread. 100%. You summed up my feelings about fan art perfectly. We are expected to produce it, and to produce mass quantities and variations at prices below the official merchandise, who have whole teams of artists and marketers handling that work load. I wonder if banning fan art might also reduce burnout.

after reading this thread it's made me wonder if I should just stop selling fanart items. My stock is about 70% original/30% fanart, I thought as its just the odd item (of things i'm actually passionate about) it wasn't a big deal, but do people really look down on me this much for that? the stuff I have isn't even hugely popular characters, I just did it because I was passionate and did want to make some money off my work

>>10834551
did you get many sells from non-weeby types at all? was it anime style drawings of original characters?

>>10834587
Tbh I don't think it would actively drive sales away, it seems to mostly be within the community.

>>10834588
Yeah, but it did seem to be more like aunts and grandmas buying for their grandkids. I do American landscapes in a manga style and some original characters. Everything is definitely manga-inspired, but the event didn't allow licensed content. In fact, a karen next door got pissed off about them telling her she couldn't sell items made with Marvel fabric. Best sellers were the ornaments, and I guess that's because you don't really see licensed anime ornaments because Japan doesn't really participate in the whole tree thing.

Genshin Impact explicitly says you're allowed to sell fan merch as long as you follow certain rules. Are there any other anime style IPs with those policies?

>>10834572
If fanart was banned at a con I just wouldn't buy anything from the AA but clothes. I'm amazed you guys sell any original art ngl. Where I live original art doesn't sell at all unless it's clothing or generic animals. People only want fanart.

>>10834738
>>10834738
I sell fanart and original art and it really depends on the crowd. Typically, the teens don't buy anything but fanart. It's the adults (like 22+) who have more refined tastes and have been going to the alley for a long time that are looking for more unique things, which does sometimes include especially creative fanart, but they are my biggest original art customers for sure. I think it's because the more conventions you've gone to, the less likely you are to buy one more generic print to take up space on your wall and I think we can all agree that a solid 30-40% of the alley is selling the same basic products. I'd even bet Vograce specifically made about 80% of what I saw in the alley at my last event.

Recommendations for inkjet sticker paper? Haven't been happy with many.

>>10826523
You would probably do much better at loc craft fairs and events. Maybe if the con has a lot of lolita and jfash content these would sell too.

reminded of its existence by Katsu, does Station Unity have an artist alley? This is impossible to search up easily on the internet for some reason

Going to an AA for the first time as a seller. I want to wear my lolita coord to look more flashy so people want to come to my booth more? I took a poll on my socials if I should just wear sweats to be comfy and go all out and it's really split.

Thoughts? Would you be drawn or scared to come to the table?

>>10838349
It does help to be dressed up, especially if you're cosplaying a fandom you're selling. If your wares aren't lolita themed at all it doesn't matter, but you're going to be sitting or standing still for long periods of time without being able to adjust your outfit so it better be comfortable.

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Is there a list with anime/manga/video games that are okay with letting artists selling fanart ?
I only know Genshit Impact is okay with it with some rules but idk about the other fandoms

Long shot but did anyone apply to Jafax and get an acceptance email yet?

>>10838349
It's actually proven that attractive folks get more sales. So yes, a small % increase in sales will seen statistically.

does anyone have any experience selling wall scrolls/tapestries? art printed onto material?

I'm looking for recommendations for where to get them printed for an upcoming con

I just got an acceptance email for anime next like two days ago but I don't even remember applying and I'm taking a year off AA b/c of life exploding.
Is this even legit?

>>10843645
Did they do rollovers from cancelled years maybe?

>>10828760
Look into the last page of doujins (if it has been scanned), you can get some printing services info from there.There's also services like Komorebi. Now, if you live somewhere shitty like me and can't get them shipped to you, you can always print them at home.

For those of you accepting cards, do you charge the extra processing fees to your customers?

>>10846458
It's 2023. Most people are using cards. Just factor it into the price. Don't leave a sour taste in your customers' mouth by surprising them with an extra fee when you could easily just raised your prices by a dollar and covered the processing fee and then some.

Is it actually possible to make a living off of this?
I hate my job, but I'd be worried for my future if I didn't have things like retirement or state insurance. What's the oldest seller you've seen at a con? I'm in my 20's so I'd be okay for the next few years, but I don't know how long people can usually keep this up... I've seen older people successfully doing furry shit. Has anyone here tried to do both?

>>10847240
Jeez you sound new to all of this. Have you ever sold at a convention before? Have you even BEEN to a convention? There are definitely people older than 20s. Do some research and stop expecting to be spoonfed. This isn’t Discord.

>>10847240
only idiots do this as their only form of income. most people who table live at home, have a spouse with a job or have a full time job themselves.

>>10847240
yes, my friend does this fulltime while also running an online store and easily pulls in 6 digits a year. I help pack during peak season and get paid. She said she gets around 10k a month in profit from the online store. she views cons as a advertising expense, but still manages to net positive after them. just be smart w marketing and get good deals on manufacturing.

>>10810506
>Artist Spreadsheet(?)
"You need access"
>IP taketowns
Register Discord, read rules, submit artist application - (not for hobbyists), submit google d0x in order to access

what the hell kind of OP is this

>>10847321
I've been to cons, but never sold at them. I know people who have, though. I haven't been to one since before the pandemic and I was too retarded and collegebrained to think about the fact that I will get older back then. I've seen visibly older people selling like, anime soap and little crafts and shit, but I've never seen someone older than 40 doing the whole fill-time convention artist thing where your entire job is making FOTM keychains. Do you know of any?

>>10847349
How many followers does she have? Did she get those from doing the con circuit, or did she have an online following before she started? I used to have a decent one before I deleted all my accounts in a schizo rage and now I really regret it. My current plan is to build it back up with IRL events where everyone is on equal footing and it's just about skill

>>10847389
Most of it is from Instagram and Tiktok. Short form videos creating merch and prints really helped boost an audience. She has around 100k followers or so

>>10847349
>>10847411
your friend is lying. 100k isn't enough to pull that kind of money.

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Assuming that most of you don't spend your lives doing this fulltime, where else do you sell outside of conventions?
Somehow I'm envisioning a relatively low-traffic shopify store and nothing else.

>>10847532
Erase the ideas that followers mean anything. I regularly see people with hundreds of thousands of followers struggle to actually pull sales. You need people who spend money, not people who like posts. You don't get a dollar per follower. Focus on building your e-commerce presence over your social media presence.

>>10847711
This honestly. Her customer base is varied and referrals and customer behavior are not entirely from SNS sales. A large portion actually come from existing customers who are subscribed to newsletters.

Think of Social Media as an extra boost for advertising, but don’t depend on them solely for calculating $$$$.

I think creating easy to navigate sites, with well organized collections help. Also upselling on other complimentary items help too.

Ie: if you sell prints, give people the option to purchase a frame, or matting. You can buy bulk pre-sized stuff and make the final product feel more luxe.

>>10847787
>>10847711
Stop samefagging

Is AANI still around? I see a group order page but nothing else. I asked a mod a few days ago but she hasn't responded.

>>10848526
This thread and the discord is dead. You’re unironically better going to the fb groups

>>10847361
Agree we need to re-setup another google doc.
If you are volunteering to upkeep it go ahead and create! Whomever was doing it for here, moved to AAN discord. Then just moved everything to the discord. But that kinda leaves here high n dry.

Im interested in running a table at a anime convention next year but ive legit never sold my art before. How can you tell if you are ready skill wise?

>>10850584
just pyw here and people will tell you. it's anonymous and nobody will remember you, and you'll get honest opinions. and if you have enough of a follower base to actually get noticed using 4chan, then you can ride off that.

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>>10850587
nta but I'd like some feedback on my work. I feel like my work isn't cute enough or topically relevant or con-friendly. would something like this sell as a print?

>>10850749
I personally would definitely consider buying a print in that art style, and I think a lot of others would as well

>>10850749
it looks really good but it doesn't fit with my other stuff so i wouldn't buy a print

>>10850749

if it's from a vg/anime/manga i'm into, i'd definitely but it, i dig the style

Has anyone heard of Rhode Island Anime Con? Apparently it's a branch off of the RI comic con. I've never had a booth before, so I was looking for a smaller con to start off, and they have artist and vendor space still open. They seem legit but it kind of looks like this is their first year as a con? https://www.rianimecon.com/

>>10850749
Anon pls drop a link. I'd buy it in a heartbeat.

>>10850749
Good work anon, I’d buy it too!

why did this thread die?

>>10852272
nonnas moved to discord, you can tell by the gutted OP
fucking annoying considering discords hinge on 1 autist to not impulsively delete the entire thing, organization is shit, and it's so insular. may as well be linking to facebook DM groups.

>>10850773
>>10850775
>>10850929
>>10851875
>>10851877
thanks for the feedback lads, I have this on inprint here:
https://www.inprnt.com/gallery/holidaypine/leon/

>>10852280
wheres the discord?

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>>10850584
I am that anon. something like this for characters.

I’m vending at a small con in my hometown this Saturday. It’s only one day, from 12-5 and at a high school.

I mostly sell art prints, zines and offer commissions. How much stock should I bring? Would only 5 of each art print/zine be enough? I never know which items will be more popular than others, plus I make more money on art commissions anyway.

I made zines of my Legend of Zelda inktober drawings which were pretty popular on social media, and with the new game just coming out, I’m wondering if this will be my hot item.

Anyone have any info on making/selling those fabric wall scrolls? Wanted to start with a small batch and see how the art looked and how it sold.

Non-artist here. What are the popular shows / media this year for artist merchandise? My guess is the following, but I really like going ham in AA so I want to make sure I cover all my bases with a pre-con watch.

>Skip and Loafer
>Hell's Paradise
>Oshi no Ko
>My Love Story w/ Yamada
>Demon Slayer resurgence thanks to the new season.
>Trigun

>>10856053
Tokyo Mew Mew. It has an actively airing reboot although all of the merch I've seen so far has used the original designs, not that there's much of a difference. Not anime but Zelda stuff is already popping up. I have no idea how the fuck people get merch designed and manufactured but it's here.

>>10856053
Honkai Star Rail.

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>>10856409
Can confirm that I will buy all March 7th merchandise I see

>>10856053
Sailor Moon movie's about to come out, you'd appeal to both the oldfag fans and new blood by making some Sailor Moon stuff.

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Where TF can I make these??

I have designs ready for many shapes, but flight tai search word brings me almost nowhere I could produce them in good quality abd with English customer service! Where have you produced these embroidered flight tai keychains?

>>10856156
>>10856512
>TMM and Sailor Moon
If this is the case, I will be walking out of AA in severe credit card debt. What a time to be alive.

>>10856409
I didn't expect this one! I'll have to look into it.

Is it worth getting a button-maker press?

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>Artist Alley 2003
>It's all watercolors, paintings, ink drawings, etc

>Artist Alley 2013
>It's all digital works in photoshop and printouts

>Artists Alley in 2023
>It's all AI art

>>10859392
>Artists Alley in 2023
>It's all AI art
Not yet but damn are they trying

I had asked this in the stupid questions thread and got redirected here >>10859375 so I'll ask again, as an artist that wants to sell online, what should I do? I have never shipped anything physically myself and I'm worried that if it falls on my end I'll likely end up fucking things up for people.

>>10856053
Genshin Impact
Hololive

>>10834734
Touhou

>>10859907
this is such a large and vague question you're asking that it makes it hard to help. Is it just about shipping in general? it depends on what you're mailing. Or are you worried about stuff getting lost in the mail? Not sure what you're asking so don't know what answer you need.

>>10860167
I think they're asking how to start setting up their own store and how to get things made by a manufacturer. It's more clear in their original reply.

>>10859392
I recently switched back to watercolor, healing my soul and improving my sales so much holy shit people love watercolor versions of their favorite characters so much. I think I could do away with the bulky merchandise like charms and just go back to prints at this rate.

>>10859907
>innate knowledge
Everyone researches. howtobeaconartist at tumblr has a nice list of resources on where to make stuff. Selling online differs from country to country, if you don't have a paypal start there. Buy merch from a small artist from etsy/storenvy/bigcartel/whatever selling similar things and see how they package their mail.

>>10810506
Would artists in artist alley be willing to sign autograph books?

>>10863266
That's a pretty weird ask. Normally artists sign their prints or stuff you buy from them, not autograph books.

>>10850749
I saw you at a show! I think the main thing with your art is that it’s dark. Which doesn’t translate when printed.
I would suggest printing bigger, add lights and have a more professional display that fit the style you have. Think gallery

>>10863696
>gallery setup
>at a con
oh sweet summer child

>>10863701
There are a lot of artists with unique setups at conventions that look professional and gallery like.
Canvas prints, cloth backdrops,
Spot lights to brighten up darker images.
Some even frame a few of their prints as examples.

How about providing useful feedback instead of being dismissive

First time tabling at AX and this con feels overhyped. Usually kill it at other cons but this one manages to feel as dead as a weekend small con despite being 100k people?

Where's all good monster girl shit, it feels like there's almost none this year.

>>10864887
AX artist alley is simultaneously so big and so overcrowded that people usually just go to specific booths instead of wandering around.

>>10864887
As a congoer I don't bother with the artist alley anymore at ax, I just remember seas and waves of people so it's too difficult to explore :/ probably the best thing is getting artist business cards there, there's too many people to make a decision and I take too long to browse for the amount of people at the con.

>>10864902
Don't worry nonnie. I'm working on some monster girl shit right now. You'll see it in the future

Was AX chibi even worth it last year? Think it would be worth trying this year?

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What do you think of artists having multiple tables at a show?
Purchased this artist's work at AX, but noticed that a 3 other booths had similar styles. When I went on their social media, the gallery work didn't represent their art, instead it looked like art from the other booths.
Perhaps I'm a bit salty that I was waitlisted for AX but this doesn't feel right.

>>10866241
It's a cunt move and definitely not a new one.

>>10866279
Yea, a lot of people were furious at one group that basically picked out all the corners of AA.

How much did y’all earn at AX this year? Gross Sales/Costs
For me it was $6000/$2500

>>10866832
also curious as I’ve been seeing people say they could buy cars with their money…makes me want to work harder!!

>>10866241
Fuck Ofskysociety. I avoid their shit at any con I see them at because of how they blatantly abuse the system and stupidity of AA staff. There's a lot of other artist "groups" that do this too, and it's primarily made up of overseas or Canadian artists selling through a few proxies based in the US.

>>10866241
Pretty sure you are not supposed to have multiple booths 1 person, I'd anonymously e-mail the coordinator to look into it so make sure it's not 1 person 3 booths. Some other people already got caught with shenannagins and with a long line of people wanting in that are legit, I'm sure the AA lead would make note if true.

anyone doing connecticon this year? I did surprisingly well last year despite how shitty it was.

>>10866832
First AX and I made 7k gross. Silly of me to think I would make 5 figures. Maybe some day.

>>10865988
From what I hear, it's the same as a local con. So guesstimate whatever money you'd make at your local con and then tack on travelling costs. (imo, no).

I made a hair over 10k, costs were around 2k but I prepped my ass off for a month beforehand and I had to take a full week off after to recover and I'm still in the process of restocking. What pushed me up was having a few more expensive items this year I think

what are some good ways to prevent or discourage theft? I pin charms and pins to cork boards for the display and tape prints to grids, but they're still able to come off if you tug on them. I thought of using clips for the prints but it would damage them. Any advice?

>>10868627
whats wrong with damaging your samples

I just want to say I love all you artists and I hope your incomes continue to grow. I love all the work you do, as someone going to cons since 2009 the quality has never been higher.

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Does anyone know which companies to work with to produce art books printed similar to Japanese doujinshi style that gets sold at Comiket? I didn't want to be rude to ask the artist since she was busy.

>>10869327
I know of nyanfire, but haven't used it to comment on it.

>>10868627
If you're willing to change your set up, I've seen people use printed foam boards or fabric interlocking squares and locking backs for pins or zipties for anything that hangs. You'd be able to spot it from the back more easily. If you don't mind damaging your samples, you can use paper eyelets and zip ties or clips like you mentioned.

>>10868901
This. I am living my best life as a consumer and AA-aficionado.

>>10813222
What can I say, California's just got more than its fair share of good artists

Does anyone have an in on the status of youmacon's AA apps / dealer hall in general?
I'm not in the discord, and no one seems to know whats going on.
At this point, It feels like the entire con won't actually happen because they don't even have a dealer hall or even a guest list established.

Do people actually skate?
Why are a lot of recent collabs/merch just skateboards?

>>10869644
People do skate but probably not on the boards you're talking about.
The skateboards are just kind of an interesting shape to hang on a wall, a bit more novelty to them.

>>10869652
oh i see , kind of like vinyl records then

>>10868643
Paranoia I guess, fear of damaging samples at every con has to add up in cost right?

>>10869578
Thanks! Might pick up some foam boards

>>10868627
Print sleeves and acrylic sheets as a shield over your cork board

Does anyone here have any clue what this is? Looks like an acrylic frame and I wonder where in the world I would find this

>>10871027
forgot to provide the reference here: https://twitter.com/ao_beni/status/1684456675250692096/video/1

they also have a video on it on their youtube channel

>>10871028
It looks like a print on a piece of plastic.

Anyone know how to get custom cut stainless steel charms manufactured?

>>10871028
I think they're called PVC prints

what titles are popular at the moment?

>>10872436
For fanart? I think the most stamp rallies I saw at AX were for genshin, honkai, and trigun but nowadays fotm moves really fast (I don't even see that much new trigun stuff anymore)

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For the love of all that is holy can someone in the Discord please share the list of fanart safe IPs? Why is it even locked behind the discord? I can't apply yet as I'm still working on setting up my store but I want to know what I should be making

>>10872663
Because the mods are powertripping cunts who only want their little circlejerk to benefit from the server. Don't even bother applying, they love banning people for no reason and new artists aren't welcome.

>>10872664
So the random person who made the original google doc took almost a decade worth of free information shared to the thread to lock behind a fucking discord wall probably to force people to join and buy their shit. It's unacceptable and the reason this thread is so dead

>>10872667
Shitcord has been the worst fucking thing to happen to any community.

>>10872669
I feel it really fractured things in general. Where things were more centralized previously, now you need super secret discord server links if people aren't making them public in general

>>10872663
Undertale:
http://undertale.tumblr.com/post/139726155020/changing-policy-on-fan-merch
Minecraft:
https://account.mojang.com/terms#commercial
Mystic Messenger:
http://msg.cheritz.com/copyright
Hatoful boyfriend:
(1) http://moa810.tumblr.com/post/148966880537/hatoful-fan-project
(2) https://twitter.com/dreamdaddygame/status/876977865954390016
Dream Daddy:
https://twitter.com/dreamdaddygame/status/882377124887146496
Klei Entertainment:
http://support.kleientertainment.com/customer/portal/articles/1296011-player-creation-guidelines
Doki Doki Lit Club:
http://teamsalvato.com/ip-guidelines/
OMORI:
http://www.omori-game.com/#updates
EXOK Games:
https://www.reddit.com/r/celestegame/comments/ni73t5/exoks_official_fanart_policy/
Friday Night Funkin':
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/415822332100214797/855365617582735390/unknown.png
Wandersong:
https://wandersong.tumblr.com/post/619326045716414464/also-whats-your-policy-on-fan-merch-like
Mihoyo/Hoyoverse/Genshin Impact:
https://www.hoyolab.com/genshin/article/381519
Hollow Knight:
https://www.teamcherry.com.au/faq
She-ra and the Princess of Power:
https://mobile.twitter.com/MsShaneLynch/status/1291958814678237187
ANYCOLOR (Nijisanji):
https://event.nijisanji.app/guidelines/en/
Vshojo:
https://www.vshojo.com/about
Epithet Erased:
https://jelloapocalypse.tumblr.com/post/189574925522/
Ena by Joel G:
https://twitter.com/JoelGuerraC/status/1364315628736307206
Drawfee/ Drawtectives:
https://twitter.com/drawfeeshow/status/892594530549026817
Big Top Burger:
https://twitter.com/Worthikids/status/1288156637501558791
Cover Corp (hololive, holostars, etc etc):
(1)https://en.hololive.tv/terms
Young horse games (Bugsnax and Octodad)
https://younghorsesgames.com/fan-merchandise-policy/
Supergiant Games (Hades, Transistor, Pyre, etc):
https://www.supergiantgames.com/blog/policy-on-fan-merchandise/
Thunder Lotus (Spiritfarer, Sundered, and Jotun)
https://thunderlotusgames.com/thunder-lotus-monetization-merch/

>>10873497
Holy shit based. I'd be happy to compile these into a doc or something that's more easily findable/readable sometime next week.

>>10873497
Impressive. Very nice. Now let's see the non-safe IP list

Should I get a printer with the standard CMYK inks or invest in one that uses 6 inks? I'm mostly looking to make stickers and digital art prints but may occasionally want to make photographic prints.

I'm starting to think ANYC has a biased towards artists with large Twitter followers.

How much do you guys pay for helpers? I’m thinking of asking a friend and am going to cover hotel + flight for sure. Do you usually pay a rate per day on top? I’m not sure how well I’ll do at this con (across the country) but I want to compensate properly.

>>10873557
Anything Viz, popular titles shonen. Anything top titles on crunchyroll. RWBY, Sega (including persona), Bioware, pokemon, Ace Attorney, among us, anything disney, monster high & mattel, atla are all notable.

>>10876444
Pretty much every single AA is biased toward artists with large followings. This is nothing new.

>>10876892
I think one of my friends pays $400-500 per weekend on top of covering accommodation (no flights since they ask local friends)

Anybody here use Big Cartel as an online store platform? Would you recommend it?

>>10877061
I used the free version. Seems good if you have a large following, not too many product types, and ok with not having product photos on site. My store only had images of the designs and a link to merch photos on my socials. Moved back to etsy for better reach since my following isn't that large.

>>10877061
i use the 20$ a month version as well as my etsy, it’s decent. i keep exclusives and a-grade pins listed there to encourage people to look and buy there. it remits sales tax on your behalf automatically so that’s a plus. they have decent customer support as well. much simpler and straightforward than shopify which i had before.
my only gripes are the product listing backend lacking when you get into more than like 20 products and i had some issues with shipping profiles. also still not able to remit VAT for you to UK.

Does anyone have any recommendations for barcode inventory management systems?
It looks like Square has it but you have to have an iPad which I don’t want to buy.

>>10877061
If you have less than 20 items it's perfect IMO, and I can attest to how fast and helpful customer service is. I live in the US so I have not encountered issues with shipping profiles but others have, location dependent

>>10810506
Do artists even like being at cons? They seem highly abrasive online so I can’t imagine them being any happier meeting people who buy shit irl

>>10873497
Since the doc anon never made one, I started up a spreadsheet with IP policies. It's not complete yet but I did start with adding some video game and vtuber information.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1RnpAOQ0Buref2M89MW-Zsfvx7OAmLQ3VRBEgdnPw5_c/edit?usp=sharing

>>10878636
Yes and no. While I love to travel and see the conventions doing cons back to back is absolutely exhausting. But in general I post more gripes online than in person. I think for a lot of us online posts are an outlet for frustration, as well as a place we can hope cons will make changes for the better.

>>10878636
Some of us do. Depends on the con and table neighbours though, it can be fun but it can also be a waste of time/energy based on luck.

>>10878636
I genuinely do and I do very well because of my personality and customer service skills. I notice a lot of artists are antisocial and act like they're doing the world a favor by existing and my booths are always consistently busy compared to others.

I'm new to doing an online store and I got some orders for prints, I got the shipping tubes but I have a few newbie questions
>is there a specific way I should pack the prints in the tube?
>do I have to seal the ends of the tube with tape?
>do I have to print the shipping info myself or will the post office do it for me if I provide the information?

>>10878636
In my experience they're either quite bubbly and willing to engage with passerbys or they zone out/wander off unless people are actively trying to make a purchase. Nothing really abrasive

>>10880313 #
I don’t ship in tubes but for printing the label, you can do it at home and then get them to pick up the packages from your front porch. You can’t do that with a ton of packages buts it’s pretty nice saving trips to the post office.
If you’re not confident in buying post online for your first package, go into the post office and they’ll guide you step by step. Or some places have a self serve machine and it prints out the label there.

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Can't believe so many artists got salty over this statement. I sell Genshin too because money but the oversaturation of it is a whole nother beast.

>>10859392
Ugh, I hate this. Digital illustration should be reserved for corporate.

Anyone alive out there?

>>10891950

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>>10891980

>>10892002
Don’t let go of my hand, anon.

On the way home from ANYC, thank you guys for all the work you put into tabling and creating artwork! I wish the sword/metal plate/giant wall of generic print sellers would die.

>>10892351
Complain to AA staff about that. Doubt they'll do anything though considering all the proxies that still got to keep their tables all weekend.

Im a brainlet , but what does it mean when someone is selling dropshipped merch?

>>10892376
They do not create, design, or have any say in the products they sell. They are selling goods from a wholesaler, and the wholesaler will handle fulfillment of the order.

>>10892377
ah i see. some artist alley tables look “generic”

>>10892468
When I'm thinking of generic "dropship" shit I picture the swords and weapons, the low quality "leather" goods, costume jewelry just tacked onto their own backing, factory made plushies of seemingly unrelated series, things of that nature. It seems to mostly be the vendors more than individual artists.

>>10891950
Why have this thread been so dead this year? Is it the state of this board or AA in general?

Personally, though I'm located in Europe, I sold significantly worse this year compared to last year. Part of it is because I had a lot of completely new stuff in 2022 after a few years of no cons during the pandemic, and this year only a part of it was new and fotm had moved on. The country I'm in is also small so the market is limited, but I'm planning to go to some neighbouring countries and switch out more of my merch and prints for cons next year.

I wonder if in general, the economic times with high inflation is also affecting AAs though. And from this thread, it seems like many people have earned less on tabling compared to pre-pandemic in general.

>>10893944
state of this board + discord, probably. AA is far from dead, there are tons of newcomers after the pandemic and it's still (maybe even more) competitive.

What would me and a friend have to keep in mind if we wanted to sell together as a group at a convention? Idk if I'm search the wrong terms for it but I haven't been able to find much info on what's needed for it outside of the appropriate business license but even then it seems that it might depend on the con too. If it helps, we're looking to try selling at next year's Afest in TX.

>>10894380
You'll have to work out if you're all sharing the same square reader account and then having someone handle the taxes themselves + the other person transferring them their share, or if you want separate square accounts which would make taxes easier but customers would have to do separate transactions if they buy merch from both of you. you'll also need to figure out stallholder insurance if the con requires it (there should be policies that cover the whole table so you can just pick one person to be the primary policy holder and then split the cost 50-50). Other costs may include display stands, table cloth, and any decorations you want to have. If you're driving there, decide who's going to transport what and for cash sales, organise your own floats and money boxes.

>>10810506
Someone should update the resources list, some sites don't even exist anymore.

How much do cons charge for artist/independent sales booths? Looking for an average here

>>10896457
The average for the cons I did last year is like $400 but booth space ranged from $75 to $1200 lmao

What's the best place to get books printed from now?

I believe jury cons should just drop the pretense and go lotto at this point. It feels like it's lotto half the time anyway.

I went to an artist alley recently for the first time in years. It felt kinda awkward to keep walking from a booth after seeing nothing that interests me (I’m pretty picky) and it feels rude when I walk away, since it means I wasn’t interested in anything they sell.
What do artists think when people look at their booth then walk away without interacting? Maybe they’re used to it and I’m looking too much into it, it still felt kinda bad though.

>>10901197
If they're not used to it they're not going to make it. As long as you're not making any rude remarks you're fine, that's just a part of business

>>10901197
I think it's weirder when artists are the ones pushing for interaction. You're fine

Anyone willing to share their numbers for ANYC? I think I did really well but came across people doubling what I made so I want to get on everyone’s level…so many amazing artists! I think I got very lucky with a very kind fandom and more unique merch, but I don’t know if my own numbers are sustainable so I want to work towards a goal.

So for yall making jewelry, where do you get your UV resin and pigment?
Im done using the shit aliexpress stuff. The bottles i ordered just wont cure no matter how long i leave it under the lamp, and if it does, it has a sticky oily residue.

>>10902190
i generally hate these kinds of spoonfeeding questions so please do research elsewhere before asking anymore questions since UV resin info is literally all over the entire internet. short answer is, you're using the resin wrong. resin doesn't cure properly in higher wattage lamps, LED lamps especially. many LED lamps don't have the correct wavelength to cure the outer layer and you get what's known as oxygen inhibition, which is corrected with no-wipe nail gel topcoat ( nail gel is another form of resin) you should use ideally be using a traditional UV lamp, but you can use a max of a 48 watt LED lamp and cure slowly to get a good cure. also don't use that "alcohol inking" method because it actually does affect the structure of the resin, despite claims otherwise.

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What should you wear when you’re tableing?

Of course it would be something comfy to sit in for long hours.

Do cosplay or fancy coords attract more customers and engagement?

But I have an unfortunate face, should I wear a mask? One of these, or even a kig or fur mask?

Just asking because I’ve never tabled before, and don’t want to look gross.

Of course, the main thing that customers see is the art and goods for sale.

>>10903767
Overall, wear what you want.

Cosplays or coordinates do draw attention. Especially if your table has that specific fandom or you have some j-fashion stuff. People are probably not going to come up to you only because you're in a cosplay or j-fashion. They're going to look at your display first. What you're wearing can be a topic of discussion.

I would only wear a mask if you're concerned with getting sick or you're at the con and you feel a bug coming on. People aren't going to care about your face. They're going to care about your art and products. I find masks put a barrier between communication, simply because of audio processing issues and loud vendor halls. So I prefer to go without one unless it's a need. I keep masks stashed in my tabling supplies, but I honestly hate trying to communicate with customers while wearing them.

Thinking of getting a Canon G3620 Pixma Megatank to print stickers and stuff, anyone have any experience with this printer?

>>10903767


this nona >>8973228 asked almost the same question and got replied with good answers (especially when u don't wanna be recognized/get facially knowned)

>>10903767
here is the thread in question (my bad the thread was archived)

https://4chanarchives.com/board/cgl/thread/8956458#p8973228

>>10849420
>>10847361

adding on nearly a year later, the fact that whoever made the doc did this is infuriating. i don't want to sit here and wait three weeks to potentially see the IP takedowns, and i don't want to have to give them a portfolio and other information just to see it. it's annoying.

Has anyone applied for Otakon standard tables and heard back yet? I applied for the first time this year so I’m just curious if it normally takes this long and if they send rejections out too.

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Kyuriin knows how to draw yet shows up to Anime Boston with A I imagery. If you are going to generate images to sell, it has no place in artist alley. Stick to your 20 images a day posts that get all the hearts on social, and continue to ruin etsy or something.

>>10909127
Sorry I'm retarded, how do you know it's AI? Is making traditional art the way to go now? like >>10860574

>>10909200
You can def tell just by the cape having a magical extra cape, and a random speck of sky through the cape. There’s anatomy issues as well in the rear to leg area. I’m familiar with this artist and it isn’t anywhere close to their style of rendering. Also her clothing isn’t correct to the series, something image generation does frequently. If the clothing was designed in a way that was not the ai trying it’s best, you’d certainly notice.

>>10909262
I see now, it gets worse the more i look. The skill level should match the anatomy. That hair alone is fucked up.

>>10909127
That’s a pretty big reach desu. You sound like you’ve got a bit of sand in your cunt about it desu